Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of GPs now seeking and unable to obtain employment.

There is no centrally held data on the number of general practice vacancies.

The Government remains committed to growing the number of doctors working in general practice. NHS England has made available a number of recruitment schemes, including the Targeted Enhanced Recruitment Scheme and the Return to Practice Programme.

The headcount of doctors working in general practice in March 2024 was 4,282 more, including 2,709 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors, than in March 2019.

The latest available data, as of March 2024, shows that the headcount of doctors in general practice in England was 47,173, including 37,235 FTE doctors, of whom 37,399 (27,574 FTE) were fully qualified general practioners.